Individuals Assessing Behavior

Persons responsible for conducting the functional behavioral assessment will vary from state to state and possibly from district to district. Some behavioral assessment procedures, such as standardized tests, may require an individual with specific training (e.g., behavior specialist or school psychologist). With specialized training, experience, and support, however, many components of the assessment can be conducted by other individuals, such as special or general education teachers, counselors, and administrators. Again, it is important to note that interventions should not be based upon one assessment measure, alone, or upon data collected by only one observer.

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Behavior Intervention Plans

After collecting data on a student's behavior, and after developing a hypothesis of the likely function of that behavior, a team develops (or revises) the student's behavior intervention plan or strategies in the IEP. These may include positive strategies, program or curricular modifications, and supplementary aids and supports required to address the disruptive behaviors in question. It is helpful to use the data collected during the functional behavioral assessment to develop the behavior intervention plan or strategies and to determine the discrepancy between the child's actual and expected behavior.

The input of the general education teacher, as appropriate (i.e., if the student is, or may be participating in the regular education environment), is especially crucial at this point. He or she will be able to relay to the team not only his or her behavioral expectations, but also valuable information about how the existing classroom environment and/or general education curriculum can be modified to support the student.

Intervention plans and strategies emphasizing skills students need in order to behave in a more appropriate manner, or plans providing motivation to conform to required standards, will be more effective than plans that simply serve to control behavior. Interventions based upon control often fail to generalize (i.e., continue to be used for long periods of time, in many settings, and in a variety of situations) -- and many times they serve only to suppress behavior -- resulting in a child manifesting unaddressed needs in alternative, inappropriate ways. Positive plans for behavioral intervention, on the other hand, will address both the source of the problem and the problem itself.

IEP teams may want to consider the following techniques when designing behavior intervention plans, strategies, and supports:

Manipulate the antecedents and/or consequences of the behavior;
Teach more acceptable replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the inappropriate behavior;
Implement changes in curriculum and instructional strategies; and
Modify the physical environment.

The following section describes some ideas IEP teams may consider when developing behavior intervention plans and strategies.

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Addressing Skill Deficits

An assessment might indicate the student has a skill deficit, and does not know how to perform desired skills. The functional behavioral assessment may show that, although ineffective, the child may engage in the inappropriate behavior to escape or avoid a situation: (1) for which he or she lacks the appropriate skills; or (2) because she or he lacks appropriate, alternative skills and truly believes this behavior is effective in getting what he or she wants or needs. For example, a child may engage in physically violent behavior because he or she believes violence is necessary to efficiently end the confrontational situation, and may believe that these behaviors will effectively accomplish his or her goals. However, when taught to use appropriate problem-solving techniques, the student will be more likely to approach potentially volatile situations in a nonviolent manner. If this is the case, the intervention may address that deficit by including, within the larger plan, a description of how to teach the problem-solving skills needed to support the child.

If the student does not know what the behavioral expectations are, the plan can be formulated to teach expectations, and would include the supports, aids, strategies, and modifications necessary to accomplish this instruction, with expectations explained in concrete terms. For example, if the expectation is "to listen to lectures," the intervention plan might include the following:

Goal: During classroom lectures, Jim will make only relevant comments and ask only relevant questions in 80 percent of the opportunities.

Objectives: Given a 50 minute, large group (i.e., more than 20 students) classroom lecture, Jim will ask one appropriate question and make two relevant comments on each of 3 consecutive school days.

Activities to accomplish the goal and objectives:

The teacher will model examples and non-examples of situations when listening is important and assist Jim in identifying the components of active listening (e.g., hands and feet still, eyes facing the speaker, quiet lips, think about what is being said and determine if you need more information, think about how the information makes you feel, and if necessary, make a comment or ask a question);
Jim will list the situations in which active listening skills are important and will describe the necessary behaviors in each of those situations;
Jim will participate in "role-plays" of situations in which active listening skills are necessary;
Jim will practice active listening in each of the situations listed above -- and will report the results to his teacher, counselor, or parent;
Jim will monitor the opportunity and degree to which he actively listens during lectures and will reinforce himself (e.g., "I did a great job!"); and
Jim will identify and use active listening skills in situations other than class lectures.

If the student does not realize that he or she is engaging in the behavior, (i.e., the student is reacting out of habit), the team may devise a plan to cue the child when she or he is so engaged. Such a cue could be private and understood only by the teacher and the student. If Mariah, for instance, impulsively talks out during Ms. Bader's class discussions, Ms. Bader and Mariah may agree that Ms. Bader will look directly at Mariah and slightly move her right hand in an upward motion to remind Mariah to raise her hand. If Mariah does raise her hand, Ms. Bader agrees to call on her.

Sometimes, for biological or other reasons, a student is unable to control his or her behavior without supports. If the IEP team believes the student needs medical services for diagnostic and evaluation purposes, an appropriate referral can be made.

Should the student not know how to perform the expected behaviors, the intervention plan could include modifications and supports to teach the child the needed skills. Such instruction may require teaching academic skills as well as behavioral and cognitive skills, and may require a team member to do a task analysis (i.e., break down a skill into its component parts) of the individual behaviors that make up the skill. For example, if the skill is to "think through and solve social problems, " the individual skills may include:

Define the problem (What is the goal? What is the obstacle?);
List the possible solutions to the problem;
Determine the likely consequences of each solution;
Evaluate each solution to determine which solution has the best likelihood of solving the problem in the long term;
Pick the best solution;
Plan how to carry out the solution;
Carry out the solution; and
Evaluate the effectiveness of the solution (and decide where to go from there).

The behavior intervention plan, in the previous case, would likely include methods to teach the necessary skills to the child, and would provide the supports necessary to accomplish such plans. Methods may include the following components:

Identify the steps necessary to solve social problems;
Recognize the steps to solve social problems when they are modeled by a teacher or a peer;
Participate in role-play situations requiring the use of the social problem solving skills; and
Practice social problem solving in real-life situations.

A technique known as curricular integration is useful in teaching skills to students, as the technique integrates positive strategies for modifying problem behavior into the existing classroom curriculum, and is based upon the premise that a skill is more likely to be learned when taught in the context in which it is used. Teachers who incorporate behavioral interventions into daily instruction generally state that this technique has proven to be particularly effective for teaching replacement behaviors.

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Addressing Performance Deficits

If the functional behavioral assessment reveals that the student knows the skills necessary to perform the behavior, but does not consistently use them, the intervention plan may include techniques, strategies, and supports designed to increase motivation to perform the skills.

If the assessment reveals that the student is engaging in the problem behavior because it is more desirable (or reinforcing) than the alternative, appropriate behavior, the intervention plan could include techniques for making the appropriate behavior more desirable. For instance, if the student makes rude comments in class in order to make her peers laugh, the plan might include strategies for rewarding appropriate comments as well as teaching the student appropriate ways to gain peer attention. Behavioral contracts or token economies and other interventions that include peer and family support may be necessary in order to change the behavior.

Sometimes a child does not perform the behavior simply because he or she sees no value in it. While the relevance of much of what we expect students to learn in school is apparent to most children, sometimes (especially with older children) it is not. For example, if Sheran wants to be a hairdresser when she graduates, she may not see any value in learning about the Battle of Waterloo. Therefore, the intervention plan may include strategies to increase her motivation, such as demonstrating to Sheran that she must pass History in order to graduate and be accepted into the beauty school program at the local community college.

Another technique for working with students who lack intrinsic motivators is to provide extrinsic motivators. If the student cannot see any intrinsic value in performing the expected behaviors, it may be necessary to, at least initially, reinforce the behaviors with some type of extrinsic reward, such as food, activities, toys, tokens, or free time. Of course, extrinsic rewards should gradually be replaced with more "naturally occurring" rewards, such as good grades, approval from others, or the sheer pleasure that comes from success. This process of fading out, or gradually replacing extrinsic rewards with more natural or intrinsic rewards, may be facilitated by pairing the extrinsic reward with an intrinsic reward. For example, when rewarding David with popcorn for completing his homework, the paraprofessional could say, David, you have completed all of your homework this week, and your class participation has increased because you are better prepared. You must be very proud of yourself for the hard work you have done. In this way, David should eventually become intrinsically rewarded by a sense of pride in completing all of his assignments.

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Addressing Both Skill and Performance Deficits

Some student problems are so significant they require a combination of techniques and supports. For example, if the student finds it difficult to control his or her anger, she or he may need to be taught certain skills, including the following:

recognize the physical signs that he or she is becoming angry,
use relaxation skills,
apply problem-solving skills, and
practice communication skills;

and have the added support of:

the school counselor,
the school psychologist, and
curricular or environmental modifications.

In addition, the student may need to be provided with external rewards for appropriately dealing with anger.

Many professionals and professional organizations agree that it is usually ineffective and often unethical to use aversive techniques to control behaviors, except in very extreme cases, such as situations in which:

the child's behavior severely endangers her or his safety or the safety of others,
every possible positive intervention has been tried for an appropriate length of time and found ineffective, and
the behavior of the student severely limits his or her learning or socialization, or that of others.

It is important for IEP teams to consider all positive interventions before they consider punishment as an option. Punishment often makes behavior worse. Further, punishment seeks to control the symptom of the problem and does not address the function of the behavior.

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Individuals Assessing Behavior